Arts Resources for people who are deaf
or hard of hearing
Please note that most of the
descriptive text is derived from within the websites themselves,
explaining the differing philosophies of wording.
Page Index
General Resources
Hands On
New York based service organization dedicated to providing
greater accessibility to arts and cultural events for the Deaf and hard of
hearing community. Founded in 1982, its mission is to bring the performing and
fine arts to Deaf people of all ages. The website offers a listing of
interpreted shows in the NY area.
Dance
Companies and Resources
Common
Ground Sign Dance Theatre
Based in Liverpool and London, Sign Dance Theatre, a new art
form, was created in 1986 with the formation of Common Ground Sign Dance
Theatre. Inspired by a vision of integration between Deaf and hearing
cultures, it uses visual language, the basis of Deaf culture, and fuses that
with expressive dance and live music. Nice website. Rich in photos of the
company performances. 
Galludet
University Dance Company
The Gallaudet Dance Company is a performing
group of approximately 15 dancers. All members of the company are
undergraduate or graduate students at Gallaudet University, the world's only
accredited liberal arts university for deaf and hard of hearing students.
Theatre
Resources
Australian
Theatre of the Deaf
The Australian Theatre of the Deaf (ATOD) is the only
professional company of its type in Australia. Its unique style of performance
is based on the expressive skills of its Deaf actors. By the use of movement,
physical expression, acting and a visual language, the company is dedicated to
the ideal of producing a form of theatre that can communicate, educate and
excite both Deaf and hearing audiences. This is a simple information page but
it does include contact information.
Cleveland Signstage
Theatre
The mission of Cleveland SIGNSTAGE Theatre is integration. Artistically, we
integrate the verbal language of spoken English and the visual language of
American Sign Language (ASL) into unique theatrical and educational
experiences. Culturally, we integrate hearing and deaf people from diverse
backgrounds into a cohesive ensemble. SIGNSTAGE is one of few professional
theatre companies in the United States that hires deaf and hearing actors to
provide these shared experiences.
DEAFYWOOD Production
Company
Deafywood is an ensemble of Deaf actors and dancers from
Hollywood performing quality stage production incorporating ASL/deaf culture
humor, stories, and satirizing current social issues to deaf and hearing
audiences. The ensemble aim to promote sign language and the American Deaf
culture appreciation to schools, colleges, Deaf clubs and organizations, and
public places. Deafywood also promote fundraising performance for nonprofit
organizations. This is a very fun website with lots of pictures and a dollup
of great humor.
Deaf West Theatre
Company
Based in Hollywood, CA, this is a very active theatre
company. Founded in 1991 to directly improve and enrich the cultural lives of
the two million deaf and hard of hearing individuals who live in the Los
Angeles area, DWT provides exposure and access to professional theatre,
filling a void for deaf artists and audiences. DWT productions are presented
in American Sign Language with simultaneous translation, providing for all, an
enhanced theatrical experience.
LA
Bridges, Theatre Company of the Deaf
This is a theatre company and so very much more. The
organization offers an excellent deaf actor referal service, for instance,
that has had great success in placing actors with disabilities into
professional positions in theatre, film, and television production. The
company provides technical advisiong and extensive training. This is a nice
resources for those in the deaf and hearing impaired community who may be
looking for a professional career in the theatre.
National Theatre of the Deaf
This Tony Award winning, Connecticut based company is top of
the line! Alas the website is a tad less impressive.
National
Theatre of the Deaf, Professional Training School
The National Theatre of the Deaf The National Theatre of the
Deaf Professional Theatre School for Deaf Theatre Personnel (PTS) was
established in 1967 through a grant from the Department of Health, Education
and Welfare. A secondary focus of the program was training individuals who
were interested in exploring teaching positions in programs providing
preliminary or ancillary training in theatre arts disciplines to the Deaf
(university drama departments, for example) or providing further training to
enhance the work of those already engaged in a teaching capacity in such
programs.
Quest: Arts for
Everyone
Based in Landham, MD, Quest creates ongoing, programs in
partnership with schools, professional arts organizations, community centers,
colleges and universities, arts councils, government agencies, elected
officials, foundations, and corporations. Quest creates and produces new
works for the stage that support its mission and represent a strong visual and
cultural base. Quest provides training in the arts to young people and
adults in communities, which have been under served or under represented.
Quest also provides professional training and consultation to educators,
administrators, and parents who are interested in using the arts to promote
excellence in their schools. Quest's Young Scholars Program, sponsored by
Gallaudet University's Honors Program, is a summer institute for deaf, hard of
hearing, and hearing adolescents.
Theatre
Sign Language Interpreting Page
This is an excellent meta-site that addresses multiple
issues in the arena of interpreting theatre for the deaf. The site even
includes resources related to developing deaf audiences. This is a well
written, well organized web resource.
Multi-Media
Deaf
Entertainment Online
From the Deaf Entertainment Foundation / Guild, its aim is
simple: to provide and disseminate information as a conduit to the
entertainment industry and accelerate the presence of Deaf and Hard of Hearing
talents in motion pictures, television, theater and the performing arts. The
website includes an extensive array of news stories, directories of captioned
films, etc. Great site!
Hear My Hands
Hear My Hands, Inc., is a non profit organization dedicated
to producing film and video projects in American Sign Language. Hear My
Hands Incorporated was founded by Suzie
Vigon in 1994 to produce film and video in American Sign Language (ASL),
the language of the deaf. Besides producing our own projects, Hear My Hands
also assists other companies and individuals with their film and video
productions.
Tripod: a source of open captioned films
This website offers a listing of feature films that this company has
produced the captioning for along with a comprehensive listing of movie
theatres in the US that show captioned films regularly.
Music
Signed
Music Foundation
The Sign Music Foundation, based in the Fort Worth area of
Texas, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide
opportunities and training to encourage the growth, refinement, and heightened
awareness of the fine art of signed music.
Writing
& Literary
American
Sign Language Poetry
ASL poetry is a new tradition stemmed from ASL. In order to
understand ASL poetry better, one must undersand the principles of ASL. In the
same way that a verb in English must 'agree' with the subject 'he or she' by
adding an 's' (e.g. yopu run, he run), the movement of many ASL verbs must
agree with the subject and the object of the sentence. This is a fascinating
introduction to this art form.
Visual
Arts
Deaf
Art Bytes
Deaf Arts Bytes is an online
collection of of visual arts pieces in which deaf artists express their inner
world. Nice website, quite attractive.
Deaf Art
This website, mostly text based, offers an extensive collection of
information and resources on deaf visual artists.
Misc
Nanette
Fabray
Nanette Fabray was handicapped for most of her adult life by
a hearing problem, until four operations restored her hearing. Read more about
this remarkable performer.
